This study investigated the correlation between new scientific knowledge and science-based firm innovation, and the mediating role of bridging scientists, in emerging markets. The study presents new insights into how new scientific knowledge exhibits a unique benefit in establishing sustainable competitive advantage for firms. It contends that bridging scientists, an emerging class of scientific human intellectual capital in firms, can improve science-based firm innovation owing to their dual role in patenting and publishing, enabling firms to deal with different and divergent logics of new science and innovation development and spanning the 'valley of death' between science and innovation. Our hypotheses are supported by a robust empirical analysis of 146 publicly listed Chinese biopharmaceutical companies. This study offers valuable evidence for emerging markets and proposing an expanded classification of bridging scientists to provide valuable supplementary evidence in response to the call for the heterogeneity of scientific human capital.
Li et al. (Wed,) studied this question.